Archaelund

86%
Game Brain Score Based on 198 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Archaelund Game Cover
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"Archaelund is a single-player Role Playing Game with an interesting plot and good graphics. The game offers exploration in a vast open world with first-person perspective and seamless transition to top-down perspective for turn-based combat. Characters have a deep and engaging progression system, starting from street ruffians, squires, hunters or beggars and advancing through a career-based system."

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

86%
Audience ScoreBased on 198 reviews
story12 positive mentions
stability7 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of first-person exploration and tactical turn-based combat, reminiscent of classic RPGs.
  • Character creation is deep and engaging, allowing for a variety of party compositions and strategies.
  • The developer is responsive to feedback and actively working on updates, showing a commitment to improving the game.
  • The combat can feel overly reliant on RNG, leading to frustrating experiences where players miss attacks frequently.
  • The game currently has limited content and can feel empty, with some areas lacking meaningful interactions or quests.
  • There are several bugs and performance issues, particularly with optimization, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • story44 mentions

    The game's story is praised for its engaging world-building, humor, and the potential for deeper exploration, though some players find the quest system vague and lacking clarity, leading to confusion about progression. While many appreciate the captivating narrative and character interactions, others note that the storyline can feel disjointed and that missions are often locked behind faction points and skills. Overall, the story is seen as a strong foundation with room for expansion and improvement in future updates.

    • “The world, the storyline, the characters, different dialog options leading to different results - real role-playing!”
    • “I could probably talk for twenty minutes about my appreciation for the in-depth character and quest design, but the lore is what placed Exiled Kingdoms squarely atop the pedestal as one of the most interesting and exciting games I've ever played.”
    • “The story complements the gameplay well, with a unique world and lore that holds your interest.”
    • “The storyline does not make much sense, and missions are locked behind faction points as well as skills, and there are not many missions.”
    • “In an RPG like this, if you give me quests, I'm going to try to do the ones closest to town first, but the quests are very vague. If you don't complete the easy couple ones in the first town, you can spend a lot of time wondering how to get XP and where to progress, as the first 'major' quest requires you to have reputation with the first town.”
    • “The area is beautiful, the fighting is turn-based, and the story is captivating.”
  • gameplay30 mentions

    The gameplay of Archaelund offers a solid and engaging experience, with nuanced mechanics that reflect the developers' passion, despite some areas needing improvement, such as UI and animations. Players can expect around 30-40 hours of content even in its early access state, though the game can be challenging, particularly at the start. While some mechanics are still not implemented and certain aspects like flanking and accuracy could use refinement, the overall gameplay is enjoyable and well-suited for fans of the genre.

    • “Would absolutely recommend this game, even at this early state in early access, with only 2 regions implemented so far, since you're already looking at 30-40 hours of gameplay with plenty more to come.”
    • “The gameplay is that well crafted; you can tell that this game is a work of passion for the creator, not just a 9 to 5.”
    • “The gameplay is satisfying when you are in control, but you can easily be overwhelmed in the beginning stretch of the game as you usually have to face up to more than 6 enemies at once.”
    • “In fact, everything is pretty basic besides the core gameplay, as expected from a small dev team.”
    • “Add in a terrible flanking mechanic that is crucial due to how bad the accuracy system is at telling your actual hit chance, and the multitude of classes that benefit from flanking makes it an experience of RNG over skill or strategy.”
    • “Game mechanics are really slow.”
  • graphics27 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the visuals and lighting as enjoyable, reminiscent of classic RPGs like Morrowind and Skyrim, while others note that they can appear outdated or rudimentary. Some players experience performance issues, indicating that the game can be graphically intensive despite not having the most advanced visuals. Overall, while the graphics are not the main focus, they are considered decent for an early access title, contributing to a nostalgic yet modern gaming experience.

    • “The graphics and lighting are quite nice to look at even though some people would think it's outdated.”
    • “I see elements from so many awesome games in the genre, like Might & Magic 6, Morrowind, Gothic, Divinity: Original Sin, and so many more, all blended together perfectly into a unique fusion of a modern game with great graphics and an old-school open-world feel.”
    • “Despite the fact it is still in early access, it seems to be the most promising game of the year - excellent graphics and music, interesting plot, variety of races and classes, and, of course, realms of Arkania vibes!”
    • “Going to run across some bugs, maybe crashes, graphical glitches, and bad pathing in the terrain.”
    • “You can clearly tell this is their first ever game; it's not that good graphically or in modeling, and action movement animations like casting and fighting look rudimentary.”
    • “My biggest issue is that I have to play on the lowest graphic settings possible with 720p just to get 30fps.”
  • optimization10 mentions

    The game's optimization is currently lacking, with numerous bugs, balance issues, and significant loading time problems that need addressing. Players express hope that future updates will enhance performance and polish, especially given its early access status. Overall, the game requires extensive optimization to improve stability and reduce memory usage.

    • “Optimization is not only encouraged but a necessity.”
    • “I think I will make an optimized party on my second campaign.”
    • “It's only early access now, so I'm sure when the game is finished it will be much more polished, optimized, smoother, etc.”
    • “At the moment it needs a lot of bug fixes, balance changes, and optimization.”
    • “It's janky, old school, in somewhat desperate need of loading time optimization (only on reloading, not area transitions so much), and is going to need about 2 years worth of work to be complete.”
    • “It's also poorly optimized and has issues eating up memory.”
  • music8 mentions

    The music in the game has received widespread praise for being atmospheric and fitting well with the various locations, enhancing the overall experience without being intrusive. Reviewers highlight the quality of the soundtrack as a standout feature, contributing to the game's promising potential despite its early access status.

    • “The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
    • “The soundtrack and the graphics are, for all the novelty of the game being helmed by a singular developer, amazing.”
    • “Music is decent and fits the atmosphere of each location.”
  • atmosphere7 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is described as inviting and intriguing, blending visuals reminiscent of Skyrim with combat akin to Baldur's Gate. The music enhances the experience, complementing the diverse environments without being intrusive, and contributes to a compelling questline that keeps players engaged. Overall, it successfully creates a captivating old-school RPG atmosphere.

    • “This creates a very nice and weirdly inviting atmosphere, a nice contrast.”
    • “The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
    • “The game has truly a great atmosphere and questline which really makes you curious what happens next.”
    • “The game's atmosphere feels uninspired and lacks the depth needed to immerse players.”
    • “Despite some decent music, the overall ambiance fails to create a compelling world.”
    • “The environments are visually appealing, but they don't evoke the sense of wonder or danger that a good atmosphere should.”
  • stability7 mentions

    The game's stability is marked by slow and buggy saves, occasional crashes, and minor visual glitches, though most issues are not intrusive. While some critical bugs exist, the developer is responsive to feedback and has been quick to implement patches. Overall, the game is somewhat buggy and unoptimized, but the quick fixes help improve the experience.

    • “Slow and buggy saves seem to be the main problem, but only a small portion of the finished product seems to be available.”
    • “Going to run across some bugs, maybe crashes, graphical glitches, and bad pathing in the terrain.”
    • “It has a limited amount of content and is somewhat buggy and unoptimized.”
  • grinding5 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, especially during early levels, with many noting that the current content feels repetitive and lacks balance. While there is potential for improvement, the grinding experience may deter some players, as it primarily consists of dungeon crawling and leveling up.

    • “Even for early access, everything is tedious.”
    • “It's just too tedious leveling up.”
    • “For what's there, I could see 30-40 hours of content that is mostly dungeon crawling and grinding.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is highly praised, with players enjoying the witty dialogue that adds a lighthearted touch to the otherwise serious setting filled with deep mysteries and dark secrets. This blend of humor and storytelling enhances the overall experience, making exploration enjoyable and engaging.

    • “What can I say? I love the world and the storytelling, the humor, and discovering new stuff in the world.”
    • “The game is full of humorous dialogue, which made Exiled Kingdoms a blast, even though the setting is serious and there are implications of profound mysteries and dark secrets.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for lacking depth, with players feeling disconnected due to generic combat encounters and the absence of voice acting or meaningful character interactions. This results in a frustrating experience that fails to engage players on an emotional level.

  • replayability2 mentions

    Players find "Archaelund" to have significant replayability, even in its early access phase, drawing comparisons to other highly replayable games. The game's design and content encourage multiple playthroughs, enhancing its long-term appeal.

    • “Even early access is amazing and has a lot of replay value.”
    • “So far, Archaelund has presented itself to be an immensely replayable game, just as EK is.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization model is praised for avoiding pay-to-win mechanics and microtransactions, focusing instead on solid game design.

    • “No pay-to-win mechanics or microtransactions, just good game design!”
    • “The monetization model is fair and respects the player's time and investment.”
    • “I appreciate that the game offers optional purchases without pressuring players to spend.”
  • character development1 mentions

    Character development is highly dynamic, offering a vast array of skill and capability combinations for each character, which can complicate the process of forming an effective party.

    • “Character development is truly dynamic with innumerable possible combinations for skills and capabilities across every character, which makes it challenging to settle on a party.”
    • “The depth of character development allows for unique playstyles, making each character feel distinct and personalized.”
    • “I love how the character development system encourages experimentation, letting players tailor their abilities to fit their preferred strategies.”
    • “Character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful choices, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
    • “The progression system is overly complicated, leading to confusion rather than excitement in developing my character.”
    • “I found the character arcs to be predictable and uninspired, leaving me disappointed with the overall development.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

40hMedian play time
28hAverage play time
4-40hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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